When One Falls, Another Rises
by Vampyressd
Summary: Hermione Granger has changed and the Dark Lord has fallen. She is the successor of him and under her rule, the Wizarding World will change, the dark will finally have its glory.
1. Accepting the Offer

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything besides the plot! All other rights go to JK Rowling._

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There was music, blasting from speakers, strobe lights, flashing on the moving bodies on the crowded dance floor casting illusions on the dancers. But in the darkest corner of the night club, a man was waiting, waiting to find a girl that could forever change the fate of the Wizarding World and its upcoming war.

"I'm going outside for some air," the petite brunette girl shouted to her cousin above the frenzied beat of the club.

She waited only to see the nod of her cousin before pushing through the people to get to the back exit and into the dark alleyway. Once outside, she breathed a sigh of relief. Why she let her cousin bring her here was beyond her for the moment. She leaned against the brick wall next to the metal door and looked at the luminous moon and the single street lamp that lit the darkened corridor. She hated that she knew her cousin was forced to bring her because her parents had forced her to. She hated that her cousin was able to have such a carefree life, full of fun. She hated that she had to worry about things that shouldn't even concern her at this age. She hated that she was always the tagalong. She hated-

A popping sound occurred in the alleyway and interrupted her mental rant. Cautiously, she walked closer towards the figure standing in the cloud of dissipating black smoke. Once she got near enough, he still hadn't moved. Finally, when she was directly in front of him, he turned towards her and she jumped back in a mixture of shock, recognition, fear, and excitement.

The one person that she thought she would never see in a dingy alleyway of a muggle night club. Yet there he was standing in front of her was Lucius Malfoy.

"You!" She gasped.

"I have a proposition for you," he stated, ignoring her incredulous look, "that is, if you are willing to accept" he continued.

Finally over the shock, she summoned her courage and replied:

"What makes you think I will listen, much less accept your so called 'proposition'?"

"Because in exchange, I will offer you the protection of your parents during the war."

With those words, she turned her gaze sharply to him. "How do I know you're not lying?"

At this, he smirked, "You don't, but if you hear me out, I will give you my word."

"Fine, let's hear this little proposition."

When he finished speaking, she looked up at him and said with grim determination and a hardened glint in her eyes, "I'll do it."

After hearing his proposition, she decided that even though it was already three weeks into her summer holidays, she would finally take martial arts classes. He advised her to do some strength training along with fighting techniques and skills. As soon as he left with a 'pop', she went back into the club.

Entering the club after being out in the chilly night air was like walking into a hot, sweaty, steamy furnace. She spotted her cousin by the bar, and instead of doing the rational thing and asking her nicely to go home, she pulled out her mobile and called a taxi.

Arriving home, it was already past 2 o'clock in the morning. She opened the door of her darkened house as quietly as possible, knowing that her parents were probably asleep. She silently crept up the stairs and into her bedroom. When she finally got off all the atrocious makeup and pulled her hair into a high messy ponytail, she stood at the sink in her bathroom, looking into the mirror.

Gone was the sweet girl who everyone knew to be a bookworm; that girl was replaced by someone who valued knowledge as a weapon, and books as a resource. The Hermione Granger everyone knew was gone, and in her place was someone who now held the power to tip the scales and make the dark side victorious, for the new Hermione Granger had accepted Lucius Malfoy's offering: to take the place of and become the successor of the fallen Dark Lord.

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_Hey everyone! This is my very first ever story! I would like to give a huge thanks to FallenForTheDraco for being my beta! And I know this chapter is short, but they will definitely get longer! Please review and tell me what you all think! Thank you all so much for reading! _

_-Ari_


	2. Parental Support

Summer was finally coming to a close and on the last day of the summer holidays found Hermione standing where she had two and a half months before after she accepted an offer that would forever change the fate of the Wizarding World and the war that was just waiting to happen, in front of her sink, staring at her own reflection.

"Hermione! We better leave now if you don't want to be late!" sighing, she turned away and clicked off the bathroom lights and pulled up the handle on her trunk. She took one last look around her bedroom, repainted with dark emerald green walls and silver trim, along with a soft ebony bedspread, and black furnishings. It was so different, yet it was perfect, because it changed when she did.

Closing the door softly, she called back down the stairs, "I'm coming mum!"

Waiting at the front door were her parents, dressed all in black, except for green accent pieces. Their outfits mirrored their daughter's as Hermione was dressed in a dressy green tank top, black jeans, and black heeled ankle boots.

Upon seeing her struggle down the steps with her heavy trunk, her father quickly stepped forwards and dragged it down for her. She acknowledged her thanks and once it was loaded into the trunk of the car, the trio sped off to Kings Cross.

As she looked up at the dark and stormy sky, she thought back to when she told her parents about the offer.

Flashback

_Outside it thundered relentlessly, the living room illuminated by bright flashes of lightning. Inside, Hermione Granger sat across from her parents, waiting for what she had said to sink in. _

"_So what you're saying," her father began slowly, "is that you took an offer to become the successor of a Dark Lord in exchange for our protection during this war in the Wizarding World?" he finished, confused. _

_Hermione let out a breath of relief, "Yes, Dad, Mum, you both mean so much to me and I had always worried that you both would get captured for information or even be used as bait-" She paused, then took a deep breath, "and I couldn't let that happen."_

_Carefully, she gauged their reactions. They looked pensive for a moment, and then they sprung forward and enveloped her in a fierce hug. _

"_Thank you," they whispered. _

End Flashback

When they had pulled apart, Hermione had then discussed with them that she needed to start training soon. At this, her parents had looked towards her, worry and concern etched on their expressions.

"Training? What sort of training?"

"Mr. Malfoy advised that I start going to a martial arts class along with strength and endurance training. The magical training will be taught to me himself when the school year starts."

Soon after that, she found herself enrolled in an intense mixed martial arts class which she went to three times a week, on alternating days. Strength training was done with both her parents, as was endurance running. Other exercises included knife throwing and target practice with both arrows and guns, for which she did alone, also alternating, before dawn.

"'Mione, you okay?" snapping out of her thoughts, she saw her mother twisted around in the passenger seat looking intently at her and her father glancing through the rearview mirror every few seconds. Smiling back at them, "I'm fine Mum, Dad. I'm just glad that the both of you went along with me on this journey of the last 2 and half months."

When they both smiled and went back to their conversation, she looked at them both carefully, sure, she was the one who changed, but what astounded her most was how they had changed also. Her parents, once bright and cheery were now determined and strong, all three of them had changed in more ways than one, bright and happy clothing dissolving into dark and mysterious with emerald green emphasizing pieces. All of them were mentally and physically stronger than ever before; she breathed a sigh of relief, they wouldn't be hurt, and they were prepared and ready for anything. Just as she was.

Soon, they arrived outside the station, and with both her parents accompanying her to the platform, she felt relief, relief that she made the right choice, in both taking the offer and telling her parents about it instead of keeping them oblivious.

Stepping up towards the barrier, her father handed her the handle of her trunk, "This is it." She sighed.

The three embraced in a tight hug but otherwise showed no emotion, no pain, no regret, no fear, just schooled expressions on their faces.

She felt magic alerting her and the three extracted from the embrace. Lucius Malfoy had kept his word: he would protect her parents in the form of setting up protective wards so ancient that only the Malfoy family knew.

"The wards are already set up at the house; it should immediately recognize your signatures when you enter." Hermione took a shuddering breath but maintained her composure.

The trio nodded to each other, communicating without words. Hermione gave a final nod to both her parents, turned and walked through the barrier to Platform 9 and ¾, determined to start as not the old Hermione Granger who merely followed rules, but as the new Hermione Granger who will be a leader, a leader who will protect her own but still do everything and anything to direct victory to the side of darkness.

_A__liquid __ad __vincere__, anything to win._

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_Please review so I can know how I'm_ _doing! As always, thank you all so much for reading!_

_-Ari_


	3. Fake Smiles and Relizations

Stepping out on the other side of the barrier, Hermione took a quick scan of the crowds. Almost immediately, her eyes locked with Lucius Malfoy's. She tilted her head to him slightly and he gave a curt nod in response. She then looked to his left and saw Draco with a confused expression, trying to decipher the exchange. Smirking, Hermione pivoted away on the heel of her boots and started walking towards the train.

But she was stopped when she heard "Hermione? Is that you?"

Turning slowly, her sight took in Harry and Ron, both staring at her intently.

"Harry! Ron!" plastering a real enough fake grin on her face, she ran towards them and hugged them both tightly, "It's so good to see you again!"

When they broke from their embrace, Ron was red faced and rubbing his upper right arm while Harry had a flush and rubbing his upper left arm. The force and grip of Hermione's hug had shocked them and would probably leave a bruise in the morning.

"Wow, 'Mione, you've gotten a lot stronger…" Ron said, trailing off while still rubbing his arm.

She was about to reply when the train's warning horn sounded, signaling all students to board the train or be left behind.

The three of them ran towards the train and when they were boarded, they searched for an empty compartment. Finding one empty near the back of the train, they sat down and pulled their trunks in after themselves.

Seating herself across on the plush leather seat from Harry and Ron, she immediately took in their expressions. She had learned this summer to read people based on small things, such as fidgeting: a tell tale sign of nervousness, lack of eye contact: which occurs when a person is lying, and most of all expressions and looks: both of which could be the difference between a secret well kept or discovered, or maybe a mystery solved.

Seeing both their faces open, she proceeded, "So, how were your summers?"

Ron nearly exploded off of his seat with the excitement of retelling the events of his summer, "It was bloody amazing! Harry stayed with me at the Burrow and we flew on our brooms, practiced Quidditch, swam in the lake, oh man it was the best ever!" he flopped back onto his seat, seemingly worn out.

Harry, the calmer of the two, merely looked at his red headed friend and grinned in response. "How was yours Hermione?"

Butting into the conversation, Ron asked quite seriously, "You didn't read every day, did you?"

"No Ronald," Hermione nearly growled with a glare, "contrary to what the both of you believe, I might have read some during break, but I did not read every day of summer break. In fact, I trained." She let the words hang and smirked to herself inwardly. '_Oh yes, I trained, for power, strength, endurance and I did read, but to learn how to interpret people and how they work; they will soon find out on the battlefield.' _

Putting his hands up in surrender, Ron was about to ask something else when Harry asked, "Did you stay inside everyday then? You're so pale, and you seem different."

Truthfully, Harry's allegations were correct. She hadn't spent any time directly in sunlight except when she was indirectly exposed when going to and from the mall. Her clothes were a huge change too; her entire wardrobe this year consisted of all black clothing with small amounts of either green or silver pieces. But the most noticeable change of all was probably her hair, once a bushy medium brown mess; it was now a dark, rich brown color boarding on black that fell in straight, sleek, shiny strands just below her shoulder blades. Her eyes too had changed; they were once a caramel color but now appeared to be a deep, cool toned mahogany, also boarding on black, with a steel like glint in them and just a hint of malice.

With a shrug, she pulled out a large book and replied back smoothly, "I just didn't get much sun that's all."

The book she had pulled had a glamour on it, to anyone else's eyes; it would have said _Advanced Charms_. But the real title was _Strategies of Battles of WWII. _The chapters were filled with content of strategic maneuvers of armies during the many battles of WWII. Although it was a battle fought among muggles, Hermione thought that it was good to see what strategies could be used; after all, war was war, whether it be fought by guns or wands.

She was half way through Chapter 5: _Weapons_ when their compartment door was banged open. Both Harry and Ron jumped up, startled, while Hermione calmly closed her book and looked towards the open doorway.

"Hello Weasel, Potthead… Granger?"

Meeting his questioning gaze, "Yes, Malfoy? Can I help you with something?"

Something was different about Hermione, yet for some reason, Draco could not pinpoint what it was. He was still confused about the strange exchange on the platform between his father and her.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he sneered, "You're needed for the Perfect's meeting."

She raised a perfectly slim eyebrow and without breaking eye contact with him, she said, "Harry, Ron, I'll be back." Without waiting for a response, she stood and walked past Draco without another word.

As they walked side by side towards the front of the train where the Perfects meeting was held, Hermione glanced at Draco; it seemed as if his father did not inform him of her current position. He looked confused and probably was still thinking about what transpired between her and his father out on the platform.

When the Perfects meeting was adjourned, Hermione was the last to leave and was intent on finishing the chapter on weapons, but her exit was blocked when an arm clad in black linen shot out in between her and the doorway.

"Do you want something? I do have something to do you know."

"What was that between you and my father?" His gaze was unwavering and his stare was cold, hard.

She sighed and closed her eyes opening them again, "It's nothing that concerns you. You will find out, all in good time. Now if you would please step out of my way, I would like to get back to my compartment."

Narrowing his eyes, he pulled his arm away from the door frame stepped back. Not saying another word, she walked past him and proceeded to continue down towards her compartment, while Draco turned and left to his compartment.

When she got back to her arrived at the doorframe, she saw that Ginny Weasley had joined them.

Opening the door she faked another grin, "Ginny! It's so nice to see you!" and went over to hug the slightly shorter girl.

Pulling back, Ginny took in Hermione's appearance, "Wow! Hermione, you look so different! But in a good way!"

"So do you!" Hermione laughed back.

Once they were seated again, Ginny and the two boys were engrossed in a conversation of their summers and Quidditch. Hermione quietly pulled out her book and turned to where she left off, and then squinted at the paragraph, reading it over again, and expelled the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Luckily, her so called friends hadn't noticed, they were so focused on arguing the different Quidditch maneuvers that they didn't see a spark in Hermione's eyes, a spark of realization, realization that she found the ultimate secret to winning the war. No one would see it coming; it was perfection.

Smirking, she closed the book and closed her eyes. It might be an unlikely method, but with the right people and the right training, she could make it work. All the tedious training she did all summer long was finally going to pay off, she was going to personally train and hand select her allies. '_Yes', she realized, a plan forming in her mind, 'it's going to work beautifully…'  
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_As promised, this chapter is longer! There will probably be a new chapter up everyday so please check back! And a big thank you to FallenForTheDraco for both being my beta and coming up with the chapter title! Also a gigantic thanks to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! Please leave a review so I know how I'm doing! As always, thank you all so much for reading!_

_-Ari_


	4. Stealing and Framing

Seeing as they were about to arrive, Hermione closed her book and tucked it into a compartment of her trunk. She then reached over and took out her Hogwarts school robe and pulled it on over her green tank and left it open.

"Hermione? Aren't you going to change?" Ginny asked, eyeing Hermione's moderated uniform.

"I already have Gin." She replied simply.

"But you guys better get changed. We're almost there."

With one last confused look, Ginny stepped out of the compartment in search of a bathroom to change in followed by Harry and Ron who did the same.

Standing up, she moved over to the open compartment doorway and glanced quickly up and down the corridors. When she saw that it was empty of people, she moved back into the compartment, closed the door, pulled down the shades on the windows and slid the lock into place.

She turned back and crouched down, pulling out Harry's trunk from the rack and took out her lock picking kit; if she used magic to open the lock, it could be traced back to her and she couldn't take the chance.

Glancing over her shoulder, she paused and titled her head, listening for any sound of someone approaching. When she heard none, she turned back to the trunk and easily clicked open the lock. She opened the lid slowly as to not disrupt anything; carefully, she swung the lid all the way back on its hinges.

Hermione looked through the contents of Harry's trunk. Looking over her shoulder again she started sifting through the clothing, muttering, "Come on, come on, it has to be here somewhere."

When her hand disappeared from view for a moment, she furrowed her eyebrows and did it again. Quickly, she pulled out the fabric and smirked maliciously.

The invisibility cloak. Coveted by many, owned by few. Yet here it was, in her hands was Harry's sacred invisibility cloak.

Too bad she only got to use it just one time: tonight.

Still smirking, she promptly opened her own trunk, took out her neatly folded clothes and placed them on the bench, then turned the cloak inside out and spread it on the bottom of her trunk, almost like a liner. Satisfied that it was flat, she put all her clothes back on top, making sure that the cloak was covered completely by layers of stacked, black clothing. Then, she tucked her lock picking kit inside her trunk in a hidden corner near the bottom.

"Okay, now…" she murmured to herself, then turned to Harry's still open trunk and with one last inspection to make sure that everything was where it was when she opened it, she closed it and clasped the lock back into place. She looked at her watch, and once again glanced at the closed door. Three minutes had already gone by and she needed to finish this!

Her eyes quickly scanned the two racks and then she found it. "Yes!" she whispered triumphantly to herself.

She slid Ginny's trunk out and sure enough, it wasn't locked. Popping open the latch and carefully lifting the lid, she looked over the contents first, committing it to memory, and then found the prize.

Taking out a pair of black leather gloves from her trunk, she slipped them on and picked up Ginny's wand. She aimed it at the locked padlock on Harry's trunk and throwing another glance behind her, whispered, _"Alohamora!"_

The padlock opened and she waited a few seconds, then snapped it shut. She picked up Harry's trunk and slid it back onto its rack. Then, she whirled around, replaced Ginny's wand in her trunk atop her clothes where she found it, popped the latch back into place, and then picked it up and placed it back onto the rack.

She hurriedly slid pulled the gloves off and threw them back into a deep corner of her trunk, next to her discretely concealed and wrapped gun and set of knives, she then rose and unlocked the door as well as pull the shades up. When she released the shades, she looked outside the compartment windows and saw Harry, Ron and Ginny, walking down the corridor towards their compartment. Cursing to herself silently, she realized that she had about 9 seconds before they would see her.

Whirling around in a blur, she kneeled back down and reached into a pouch inside her trunk, pulling out a pair silver stud earrings, then dropped one to the floor and shut the lid quickly but quietly.

She got her hands to her left ear as soon as they walked in and mentally sighed a breath of relief.

"What are you doing on the floor 'Mione?" Ron looked at her expectantly, and turning to him and Ginny and Harry, she lied smoothly, "I was putting on my earrings and dropped one on the floor." With that, she turned back and pretended to look for her 'lost' earring.

Then, glancing around the carpeted floor, she saw the shimmering silver stud and swiped it up, "Found it!"

Hermione slid the earring on and pushed the lid of her trunk back down, locking it with a simple, but still complex lock and took her seat next to Ginny, who was once again engrossed in a conversation with Ron and Harry.

Hermione turned away and stared out the window of the slowly moving train as it approached Hogsmeade.

Leaning back into her seat, she made a mental note to ask Lucius for an enchanted pad lock or a spell that didn't allow anyone else besides her to open her trunk. Besides, one could _never_ be too careful.

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_Please leave a review! Thank you to all those who have reviewed, favorited, or followed! As always, thank you all so much for reading! New Chapter will be up tomorrow!_

_-Ari_


	5. Sneaking and Meetings

_Please read the Author's Note at the end of this chapter! Thanks!_

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Once they had gotten off the train, the four of them walked along with the rest of the students through Hogsmeade. Hermione walked on the outside on the left and when she looked straight forwards, she saw a man that looked remotely familiar. He was walking up towards her in the opposite direction, on her side, looking at her intently. She shook her head slightly and looked straight ahead, then, she felt something being pressed into the palm of her left hand.

Keeping her emotions schooled as to not give anything away, she realized that she was just given a piece of parchment in a brush pass. She slid the slip of parchment into her back pocket without so much as glancing at it. There would be plenty of time to look at it after the feast and Perfect duties.

Entering the Great Hall, they took their seats while Dumbledore began with his usual introductions. Hermione seemed to be looking directly at the professor, but instead her eyes were scanning along the staff table behind him, looking for one person in particular.

She noticed that as soon as her gaze fell on Professor Snape's, he looked at her with a strange expression.

Refusing to back down from his stare, she fixed her unwavering gaze to his, wiping any emotion she had off of her face.

Then, he narrowed his eyes slightly and widened them again. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion; then, she felt it, something that felt like a brush running along the outside of her mind, not entirely an intrusion, but almost as if asking for entrance.

Realizing that he was trying to send her a message through her mind, she immediately accepted it.

"_Read the letter as soon as possible."_

Right after the message relayed in her mind, she gave him a nearly invisible nod to confirm that she understood and turned back towards her table.

After the feast, and after she had done her Perfect duties of patrolling the hallways, it was already 10 o'clock.

She held the small piece of parchment in her hand and pulled the curtains around her four poster bed in her dorm room, then put up an illusionary spell so that if anyone were to wake up, they wouldn't see light coming from inside or around her curtained bed.

Holding her wand in front of her, she whispered, _"Lux!"_

When a bright beam of silvery, blue light glowed from the tip of her wand, she smiled wickedly. It was basically the same spell as the regular illuminating charm, but this one was the 'dark' version.

She turned her attention back to the piece of parchment in her hand and held her wand near it, reading the neatly written words:

"_Midnight. Edge of Forbidden Forest."_

_LM_

As soon as she read the last letter, the note burst into a puff of green smoke.

'_Hm, well now I won't have to worry about getting rid of it.' _She thought, arching an eyebrow.

Hovering the wand over her watch, she saw that it was already eleven. Quickly and silently, she drew back the curtains at the foot of her bed, reached down, and eased her trunk up, onto the bed. Then, closing the curtains again, she cast a silencing spell.

She opened her trunk and took out the top layers of clothing covering the invisibility cloak that she took from Harry's trunk on the train. Taking out the cloak, she shook it out and laid it down next to her wand, which was her only source of light. Neatly stacking all the clothing except for a soft black hoodie back into her trunk, she slid back towards the foot of her bed and carefully, quietly eased it back onto the floor.

Closing the curtains once again, she just took a moment to marvel at the invisibility cloak. Inside out it may seem to be just a cloak, but it was a true treasure and weapon to those who knew how to use it.

Hermione sighed and lifted up the cloak, she was going to use it just once tonight to scope out the wards and defenses that protected the castle; if she could find out what they were and how to disable them, she could easily lead her forces in to charge and without the defenses, the process would be a whole lot smoother and faster.

Although it was not what she intended to use it for, she still got to use the invisibility cloak nonetheless.

Checking her watch again, she noted that it was nearing 11:45. Putting the hoodie on over her green tank top and zipping it up, she whispered,_ "Finite Incantatem!" _and the light glowing from her wand extinguished. She waited a few moments to let her eyes adjust to the darkness before listening to make sure that no one had stirred. When she heard the steady breathing of her dorm mates, she put the cloak around her head and let it cover her.

Hermione slipped silently out through the gap of the curtains surrounding her bed, and tip toed to the door, opening it slightly and slid through the crack.

She carefully moved through the castle to the huge front doors, glancing around her and keeping her breathing in check as to not make a sound. Once at the doors, she undid the big latch and opened it just a fraction, again slithering through the crack.

Outside, the night was calm and cool, moonlight highlighting the Hogwarts grounds. She made it quickly by Hagrid's hut and broke out into a full run as soon as she passed by it. She glanced at her watch again. Only 6 more minutes until midnight.

When she made it to the clearing at the edge of the forest, she took off the invisibility cloak, turned it inside out and threw it over her forearm.

"Ah, glad to see that you could make it, Miss Granger."

Whirling around, she saw Lucius Malfoy standing behind her, and responded sarcastically, "Well how could I not?"

"Why did you ask to meet me here?" she asked, growing serious again.

The amused look disappeared, "The Dark Lord is growing weaker every day, and has requested to see his chosen successor before his death."

"When?"

"This weekend. Meet me here on Friday night at midnight and I will take us both to the manor."

Nodding, she was about to put the invisibility cloak back on, but paused, "You haven't told Draco any of this, have you?"

"No," he began slowly, "I did not think it was wise to tell Draco. Yet."

She didn't say anything, but nodded once more, turned and threw the invisibility cloak over her head.

When she slipped back into the common room, she searched for the dormitory that Ginny was in. Once she found it, she put her hand on the doorknob and twisted it. Locked.

Smirking, she pulled out her lock pick from her boot and easily unlocked the door. Gliding through the room among the sleeping forms, she spotted Ginny's bed, with the curtains pulled back.

Quietly, she went to the side of Ginny's bed and cast a silencing and illusionary charm. Then she took the cloak off and turned it inside out so that it showed the pattern and was visible, then laid it next to Ginny's still sleeping form. Hermione put a hand on Ginny's mouth and once the younger girl had awoken, whisper yelled, _"Obliviate!"_

Whispering quickly, "You wanted to sneak out to the Perfect's bathroom and decided to borrow Harry's invisibility cloak. You took it out of his trunk when we were getting off the train and you fell asleep with it next to you after your bath in the Perfect's bathroom."

"_Finite Incantatem." _The spell breaking, Ginny fell back towards the bed and was instantly asleep.

Slipping quietly back into her own dorm room, and once in the safety of her curtained bed, she waved her wand and her clothes changed to pajamas. The clothing she was wearing just seconds ago were now neatly folded back into her trunk without a sound.

She slid down underneath her soft blanket and let out a sigh of relief and tiredness.

A small evil smile crossed her features as she laid there in the dark, realizing that her journey to becoming leader of the dark side was to begin in just two days.

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_Author's Note: Thank you all so much for favoriting, reviewing, or following! It helps to motivate me when I see reviews so please leave a review! Thank you so much for reading! Next Chapter will be up tomorrow! Remember, I update everyday!_

_-Ari_


	6. A Grand Entrance and A Proposition

_Author's note:_ _I just wanted to let everyone know that there might not be a new chapter up tomorrow because I have to finish something very important for school so the new chapter will be up the next day! I hope you all understand! Thank you so much for reading! Please enjoy this chapter!_

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As Hermione opened her eyes, she breathed in the fresh, chilly morning air and hearing nothing but steady breathing, realized that she was probably the first one up.

Pushing back the curtains, she got out of bed quietly, grabbed some clothes and cosmetics from her trunk and left to the bathroom to get ready.

Finished with washing up, she leaned into the sink and applied her makeup.

She leaned back and took one last look at her entire self. Silk green loose blouse, and black skinny pants tucked into the black heeled lace up combat boots she constantly wore. Inspecting her makeup, and satisfied with how the hint of shimmer, black liner, and mascara made her eyes glimmer with a cold glint.

Satisfied, she pulled on her school cloak and let it fall open over her clothes underneath. She glanced in the mirror a final time, curling her lip in disgust at the red and gold Gryffindor crest that adorned the top left of the cloak.

'_That old sorting hat probably couldn't predict the future. If it could, it would have placed me in Slytherin from the start if it knew what was to come in the future and what I would become…' _she mused.

Stopping with her musings, she threw one last glance of revulsion at the roaring lion surrounded by red and gold threads of Gryffindor labeled on the otherwise black fabric of her cloak; left the bathroom and sauntered out towards the common room. Seeing the suffocating red and gold decorations plastered literally everywhere, she mentally reminded herself to ask Dumbledore if she could have her own dorm room, and considering her grades and academic status, plus his trust in her was a bonus.

Once she entered the common room, she noticed that her dorm mates had already woken up and were walking aimlessly around, still dazed and not used to waking up so early.

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she continued to make her way through the room and to the portrait hole where she finally stepped out, breathing in deeply at the simple but extravagant furnishings in the hallways of the castle.

She walked briskly up to the huge, dark oak doors of the Great Hall, ready to pull a dramatic entrance. With her wand, she lifted and aimed it at the double doors, expelling a powerful gust of wind that slammed the doors back onto its hinges.

Everyone's eyes immediately snapped to the opened doors, and were dumfounded to see a changed, smirking Hermione standing there, just glancing around the dining hall until her eyes landed on Draco, who narrowed his eyes in a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

'_What's going on with Granger? First that look between her and father, and now this…'_

To everyone else sitting at the tables, it seemed as if they were having a silent staring contest, and then finally after several minutes, she tore her eyes away and keeping the smirk, casually walked over to the Gryffindor table, trying hard not to make a disgusted face.

"Hey!" she said with fake enthusiasm as she took her seat across from Harry and Ron.

Everyone in the dining hall was _still_ staring at her, so she stood up and said loudly, "Take a picture. It'll last longer."

Well, that seemed to break the constant staring. But, just as Hermione was picking up her fork, ready to eat her breakfast, the hall burst out in whispers and glances in her direction. Gritting her teeth together and noticing that neither Ron nor Harry had said anything still, she stood up once more and slammed her hand down on the wooden table top.

The entire dining hall jumped from the sound of the force of her hand slamming down onto the table and fell silent.

"What?!" she questioned in a loud, angry voice, nearly sneering, but containing herself, after all, she did have to keep up some sort of appearance that she was still the same goody- goody Hermione Granger.

Receiving no response she spoke in the same manner, "If you have something to say, then come and say it to me."

Again, no response, then, the students started with their own random conversations that were forgotten when Hermione entered.

Contented, she sat down and started on her pancakes, glancing up at Harry and Ron, who seemed frozen.

"Ron, Harry, your pancakes are getting cold."

Almost immediately after she said that, both he and Harry seemed to break out of their frozen trance while he resumed his bad eating habit of stuffing the thick pancakes into his mouth. Instead of commenting on that like she usually did, Hermione simply raised an eyebrow and took a sip of her pumpkin juice.

Having double potions with Slytherins as the first class of the day used to be dreaded by Hermione, but ever since Professor Snape had somehow urgently conveyed through her mind that she needed to read the letter, she realized that maybe she could talk with him and ask him for some darks arts books that she could not otherwise get herself. And she was starting to like the how the dungeon walls, covered in slate gray cement, made the air appear to be cold and forbidding. It was way better than the suffocating, heated colors of the entire Gryffindor tower.

After Snape dismissed the class, she waited until everyone was out the door and out of earshot before she walked up to his desk. The Potion's professor looked up, and if he were surprised about the colors she was sporting, he didn't show it.

"Is there something I can help you with, Miss Granger?"

"Yes, Professor," she started and slid a piece of parchment across his desk to him as she spoke, nodding slightly towards the parchment with neat writing on it, "I was wondering if there were any sort of books that gave in depth explanations of more advanced, different Potions and their uses?"

He looked down as if thinking for a moment, but was really reading what she wrote.

He then looked at her, contemplating, then spoke again after a long stretch of silence.

"Very well, Miss Granger." he said softly.

Then louder and nastier, "That's twenty points from Gryffindor and detention tonight!"

Bowing her head in an attempt to gain control of the wicked grin that was trying to spread on her face, replied, "Yes, Professor." in a false saddened tone.

He gave her one last secretive look and a nearly indistinguishable nod, which she returned.

Turning and stepping away from his desk, she walked out the door of the classroom and made her way to transfiguration.

Sighing in relief, she had feared that he wouldn't accept her proposition.

'_But then again,'_ she reasoned, _'if he knew to tell her about the note, he probably would have accepted it.'_

Heading into transfiguration, and making up an excuse to McGonagall, who gave her a scolding look but nothing more, took her seat, and zoned out for the rest of the class.


	7. A New Friend and An Idea

_Author's note: Thank you everyone so much for understanding! I hope you all will enjoy this chapter! Next one might be up later today! Please leave a review and tell me how I'm doing! _

* * *

When the classroom door slammed shut behind a bored and irritated looking Hermione Granger, everyone in the classroom stared at her all the way to her seat. She glared at the prying eyes and sat back in her seat, zoning out McGonagall's words.

Finally, the class was dismissed.

Walking down the hallway, Ron and Harry caught up with her.

"Hey guys." she greeted with a dejected sigh.

"Hey 'Mione! What's wrong?" looking up, she saw Harry looking at her expectantly.

"I have detention tonight," she paused when she saw him about to say something, "with Professor Snape."

She sighed again for emphasis while they looked sympathetic.

"Well, this is where I'm going to be until dinner, and then I'm off to detention." she said, gesturing to the library doors that she stood in front of.

Smiling at her, they both took off to Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, a class which she never really wanted to take and was glad that she never signed up for it. Since she opted not to take that class, this was her last period as well as her free one.

Walking into the library, she took a moment to just breathe in the scent of the bound leather books. Books that gave knowledge on everything there was to know. Books that would be an ultimate resource to winning the war, one just had to know which book to look for.

Walking through the isle filled with ancient and new volumes, she hadn't realized that she was in front of someone until she literally ran into them.

"I am so sorry! I didn't look where I was going!" the girl exclaimed in a whisper. She was about Hermione's height and also petite with blue/grey eyes, sparse freckles, and long brown hair framing her pale skin.

"Oh no, it's my fault, I should have been looking where I was going too!" Hermione laughed quietly. She noticed the girl's green and silver Slytherin tie and suddenly, an idea struck her

"I'm Hermione, by the way." she said, holding out a pale hand.

"Kim." the brunette girl smiled back and shook her hand.

Dropping down to help Kim with her books, Hermione asked, conversationally, "Are you by any chance new here? I've never seen you around here before."

"Yes, actually, I just transferred here two days ago from Durmstrung and have just been here, trying to get some sort of semblance of this place! I'm a 6th Year." she replied, picking up her last book.

"All the way from Durmstrung? I'm a 6th Year as well!"

"Well, it was nice meeting you Hermione, but I better get going, tons and tons of homework!" Kim said, with a roll of her eyes and a smile.

"It was nice to meet you too, Kim." Hermione smiled a real, genuine smile back, "And hey, if you want to tour of the school or just to hang out, I'll be in that corner over there." she said, pointing to the corner farthest from the library's front doors.

"Alright, how about tomorrow, during this time? I have this time as my free and last period."

"Sounds great Kim! I'll see you tomorrow!" with a parting wave, Kim turned and left the library.

Still wearing an authentic smile, Hermione moved back towards her corner in the quiet library. She found someone that could be her friend, a real friend. Now she just had to see which side Kim's loyalties lied. If it was with the dark side, then she would have a new friend and a spy inside Slytherin.

Hermione knew that she could easily get Draco to be the spy, and even though most of Slytherin house supported the dark side, she, for some reason, just couldn't shake the feeling that she couldn't allow Draco that important of a task yet, at least not before smaller ones to prove himself.

Lost in thought, the chiming of the large grandfather clock had her glancing at the silver watch she always wore, realizing that it was already dinner time. She picked up her unread book and put them neatly back into its spot back on the shelf.

Going into the dining hall, she simply walked in and sat across from Harry and Ron, as she always did, not making the same dramatic entrance as she had that morning.

About twenty minutes into the meal, she saw Snape excuse himself from the table and walk briskly towards the doors. When he reached the open double doors, he paused, and then glancing around to make sure everyone was preoccupied, he locked his gaze with Hermione's and tilted his head ever so slightly.

She gave one nod in response, and he swept out of the Great Hall. She knew what he meant, _'Come now.'_

Throwing her napkin down onto her plate and standing up, she said with false dread, "I'll see you guys later, I have to go to detention now."

The people around her gave sympathetic looks, no doubt having found out her detention was with the most feared professor.

Wanting to sneer at their stupidity and wipe those looks off of their faces, but controlling herself, Hermione instead smiled her thanks and left the dining hall.


	8. Detention Served

_ Authors note: Hey everyone! I am so sorry that I did not post a new chapter yesterday! I just started school again, so I may not be able to upload a new chapter everyday, because I am taking university level courses and it's just like a university class, I already have loads to do! So I do appologize if there is not a new chapter up everyday! I will update probably very other day if possible! _  
_Anyways, please enjoy this chapter and leave a review and tell me what you think! _

_-Ari_

* * *

Hermione walked down the corridors until she reached the Potions classroom, being in the dungeons again was somewhat familiar and comforting, such space and actual air to breath, unlike the suppressed air in the Gryffindor tower.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she opened the door to the classroom and found Snape waiting for her near another door that had clearly been concealed with a charm, as she had never even noticed it before. He cast a complex locking spell and then various warning and warding spells against intrusion, in case anyone was wandering down the dungeon hallways and happened to look in the Potions room.

As soon as everything was set in the classroom, Hermione walked towards him and followed him through the dark hallway, dimly lit with a few burning torches, with enchanted green flames, flickering, and somehow, she found it oddly comforting.

They then reached a dark black oak door, and pushing open the door, Snape gestured for Hermione to enter.

Upon entering, she instantly noticed that this was Snape's office, and she saw Lucius standing in front of the fireplace, looking quite serious.

The door behind her slid shut, signaling that Snape had left.

She was going to question where exactly he had gone off to when Lucius spoke, "He didn't want to attend our meeting today, Miss Granger. I suppose he left to brew a special potion, one that I am sure you will be very interested in, and tomorrow night, after the meeting with the Dark Lord when you are officially the new Dark ruler, I will divest that information to you."

Giving him a nod, she finally spoke, "Are there any new developments on our side for the war?"

"No, with the Dark Lord's condition, no one has been recruited and no raids have been administered in nearly seven months."

Clasping her hands behind her back, she paced back and forth on the emerald carpet.

"I think I may have found an asset today, this girl in Slytherin. Transfer from Durmstrung, named Kim."

"And why do you think she is such a great asset?"

"Because, she's new, I already trust her, and once we find if her loyalties lie on the dark side, then she would be the perfect spy to have inside Slytherin, and also be a friend to me."

Lucius started to protest, saying that Draco would be more than competent as a spy, but she held up her hand, "I knew you would want that, son or not, but I have a feeling, something about him, it's almost like he's walking a thin line, he's in the middle right now, and could fall to either side."

She looked at Lucius before continuing, "However, he makes it seem to everyone else that he is on the side of the dark, because the entire Malfoy family was."

Seeing his nod of conformation, she carried on, "But I see it. I see his struggle, and right now, it's easy for either side to pull him over, but maybe just maybe, with the oppressive Dark Lord and me as the new Dark ruler, he will fall to this side."

"If not though, he will soon realize his mistakes and join us, connections stronger than ever. But at this point, I do question his loyalty, and if he does decide to go to the light side, then it won't be long before he will come back… it may just take a little convincing…" she trailed off with a smirk, and added, "if such a scenario were to happen that is…"

Hearing no comment from Lucius, she turned back towards him.

He had a thoughtful expression, "What exactly did you need to meet with me about today?"

Her smirk dropped from her face, replaced by a tired and weary look.

"I asked to meet with you, because, frankly," she started, giving a short sigh that was more like a small expulsion of breath, "I don't know how I'm going to take the role of the Dark Lord. I've read books on tactics of wars, and trained so much this summer that I could probably teach methods of fighting and weapons, but I really don't think I can go at this alone. It's just too much, I'm already stretching myself pretty thin as it is." she finished, a look of worry mixed in with tiredness sweeping across her face.

Lucius contemplated for a minute then replied with a very uncharacteristic smile, "You will not have to do this alone, Hermione. I will be by your side, that is of course you want to keep me as your second in command."

Dropping her guard completely, Hermione brightened, smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, "Of course I'll be keeping you as my second in command, and I accept your mentorship."

Checking her watch, she noticed that her 'detention' was about to end in two minutes.

"I have to go; I'm expected back in about two minutes. I will see you tomorrow night at the edge of the forest." she said hurriedly.

"Until then," he responded, with a rare genuine smile that she realized not many people had ever seen.

Smiling back, she turned towards the door and exited Snape's office, walking through the hidden hallway to the door at the end of it.

She stepped out and pulled the door closed behind her, noticing that it disappeared right after.

Shaking her head with a small, wry smile on her face, she saw Snape standing before a bubbling potion. He looked up and said in a mockingly serious tone, "Alright Miss Granger, your detention is served, you may leave."

Then in a quieter tone, "I hope your meeting with Lucius went well," at her smirk, he gave one of his own, "If anyone asks, I made you clean cauldrons."

She nodded, then walked out the door, heading for the Gryffindor tower, with a feeling of comfort, comfort because she didn't have to do this all alone, comfort because she didn't have to take all the pressure.


	9. Worthy of Power

_Author's note: Hey everyone! I am so sorry that I haven't updated sooner! School is already getting very demanding! Anyways, please enjoy this chapter and leave me a review to tell me your thoughts! _

_-Ari_

* * *

Sitting cross legged on her bed, Hermione slowly opened her eyes darkness, only the slight sliver of the moon beam cutting through the gap of her curtain surrounded bed.

She paused for a moment and then breathed out deeply, unraveling herself and stretching out silently. Tonight was it. Tonight she was going to officially take the Dark Lord's place. In an instant, nervousness and doubt swept over her, but, she immediately pressed it back down and pushed it out of her system.

She crept out to the edge of the forbidden forest the same way she had done only a few nights before. When she saw Lucius standing near a large stone boulder, she paused, feeling the doubt snake through her again, and shook her head, erasing any leftover thoughts of fear and doubt.

Standing up straight, she walked briskly towards him. When she reached him, they acknowledged each other, then he apparted them to the manor.

They landed in front of the ominous, looming gates with a loud _'crack'_. Surprising even herself by landing gracefully, Hermione attributed her solid landing to the numerous hours of agility training.

She followed him up the winding path towards the front door, which upon their arrival, was opened by a house elf. Hermione almost missed it, when she passed the elf, but she swung back around, and noticed that the elf had on _regular clothing_ instead of the usual pillowcase.

Confused she was about to ask Lucius when he filled in, "Ah yes, I figured ever since what happened with Dobby, it was wise to free all the house elves and pay them for their services, but they all stayed on their own accord." As he finished his sentence, she noticed that he gave the house elf a small smile, which was retuned.

Smiling and shaking her head in amazement, she smiled to the elf, who returned it with a friendly smile. She followed him through the dark and winding corridors.

When they emerged, she took in the sight of the meeting room, wide and open with dark emerald green walls, ebony high backed chairs and various other dark furniture. The windows were covered in heavy darkened silvery grayish satin curtains that blocked out any and all sources of light, which she found strangely comforting.

They continued through various dark, winding hallways and up many staircases until they reached a simple but still ornate door with a silver handle.

Lucius stopped instead of reaching for the handle and Hermione nearly crashed into his back.

"He is waiting for you." he said with a grave expression.

She took a deep breath, straightened up, and stepped forward. Taking one more steadying breath, she placed her hand on the shiny silver ornate handle and twisted it, pushing the door open.

When Hermione stepped through, she noticed black curtains closed on the high windows and was beginning to suspect that the entire manor had those, everything else was in dark hues of blackened tones.

Her eyes finally landed on the bed, where the Dark Lord in the form of Tom Riddle was propped up against the black headboard by plush pillows encased in black silk. His eyes, following her every move, were a deep crimson color that looked as if they had dulled and lost their fire.

They simply stared at each other for a while, then he spoke, in a voice that used to hiss with menace but now was a low rasping sound, "So this is you. My successor. The ever so bright Hermione Granger. The mudblood. The most intelligent student to attend Hogwarts since myself." he paused, "best friend to Harry Potter. One third of the esteemed 'Golden Trio'. Said to be on the side of light…" he trailed off.

"But we both know that's not true anymore is it Miss Granger, otherwise you would not have accepted my offer, a few months before."

His still piercing gaze locked with hers, she responded, "The side of light," she spat, "is foolish, they have no idea what real military strategies are, they don't understand what's it's like to use anything as a weapon, and I would be ashamed to be any way a part of something so idiotic." she finished with a sneer.

He smirked ever so slightly, "Ah, Miss Granger, you have anger in you. Good, let it be one other thing that will drive you towards your goal, but never allow it to control you."

Silence hung between them as she absorbed what he said.

Suddenly, she asked, "Why did you choose me? It should have been someone else." she glanced down at her feet, then said quietly, "A pureblood."

"You were the only one I picked, I never considered anyone else."

At his statement, her head snapped up, she furrowed her eyebrows, "But why me?"

Instead of answering her question, he beckoned her forwards with one frail hand, and wheezed out, seemingly in pain, "Come!"

Once she approached his bedside, he grasped her cold hand in his equally cold one and rasped out, voice straining, "My time is done, the throne is now yours," he inhaled a shuddering breath, and with the last of his strength, "my powers are now yours. You will do me and our side proud, you will tear the side of light asunder, you will give the dark it's long awaited glory," his tapped out for a millisecond, and then he spoke what she was sure to be his last words, she gripped his hand tightly, and he gathered the final remnants of his strength, and gave her an almost proud smile, "You will do all those and more, because you have more potential than anyone, you are worthy… I chose you because you are worthy."

She felt a blast of power, streaming from him into her through their conjoined hands.

After what felt like hours, the haze settled and she gasped, taking heaving breaths of air, feeling as if she had a huge power boost.

Still reeling in shock from his last words, _'You are worthy.'_ it took her a moment to notice that his grip on her hand had gone slack.

She gently removed her hand and placed his by his side, "I promise to bring our side to greatness once again and do you proud." she whispered, standing up and wiping away tears.

Turning and leaving the room, she found Lucius standing outside the corridor, pacing, with a concerned expression.

He nearly jumped when he took in her appearance, "Oh gods." He breathed.

"What?!"

"Your eyes!"

Eyes widening, "I need a mirror!"

As soon as she said that, an elf popped in holding a small hand held mirror and gave it to her.

Holding it up to her face, she almost jumped in fear and shock as well.

"But-but how did that happen?"

"He gave you all his powers." Lucius breathed out with amazement.


	10. The Letter

_Author's note: Hey everyone, thank you all so much for reading and favoriting! I am trying to update at least twice a week, but school's just been crazy! I hope you all enjoy this new chapter! Next one will be up soon! And feel free to leave a review and also private message me if you would like, I check my messages regularly! _  
_-Ari_

* * *

Having seemingly been holding her breath, Hermione let out a burst of air at the disbelief. Quickly accessing the situation, she realized that she had two options: 1) stand here, debate about it, and waste time, or 2) work this to her advantage.

She immediately settled on the second option, should this go as planned, military strategies would be easier with her added power.

She turned abruptly to Lucius, who seemed to still be working out exactly how the power transfer occurred.

"Where's the floo?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, he replied, "They're all over the manor, but the closest one would have to be in the meeting room that we walked through. Why?"

Instead of replying to his question she just said, "I need to floo to my parents' house." She started walking back the way they came, but stopped and turned to face him once more, "When I get back, you will see the nature of my visit."

When she saw that he was about to protest, she cut him off, "They know." she said, softly, turned back around, and continued down the long hallway towards the meeting room.

She never did see his nod of approval or his raised eyebrow.

Hermione walked towards the fireplace and grabbed a handful of the floo powder in her hands, then threw it into the fiery embers, turning them from an orange red color to a brilliant emerald green.

She stepped in and yelled, "Granger Household!"

Once the unpleasant feeling of flooing passed, she landed in the fireplace of her parents' living room. Dusting herself off, she noticed that the lights, while dim, were still on in the kitchen.

Upon hearing the commotion in the living room, the lights snapped on there as well, revealing her parents, standing side by side, looking startled and pale.

Hermione smirked to them, and they smirked back. Without words, the three moved into a tight embrace.

When they broke apart, they took in her crimson red pupils.

"Hermione?" her father whispered, not in fear, but in awe.

"Yes, it's me." she replied back softly.

Glancing at her watch, she spoke urgently, "Listen, there is so much that I have to tell you, but I cannot right now, it's late and I'm still expected to be at Hogwarts in the morning before everyone else wakes up." she paused, "I need your help. I need contact lenses, preferably in a deep grey color, to counteract the red."

Without hesitation, her mother replied, "I believe we still have charcoal grey non prescription contact lenses from last Halloween."

After finishing her statement, her mother led her through the house to a storage closet and rumbled through a painted ebony chest and a moment later pulled out a pair of unused contact lenses in a deep stormy grey color that Hermione had requested.

Quickly thanking her, the three walked back to the living room where the fireplace resided, she took a deep breath, "Thank you, I have to go now, be safe." she said, whispering the last part and giving each of her parents a hug before jumping back into the deep green flames and yelling, "Malfoy Manor!"

As the surprisingly cooling flames swallow her up, she saw acceptance in her parents' eyes, acceptance, understanding, and love. She flashed them a parting smile, before the emerald flames engulfed her, which her parents retuned.

Landing in the fireplace of the meeting room, she steadied herself and dusted off her black clothes and made a disgusted sound, reminding herself to find _some_ way to apparate.

Lucius was pacing through the large room and upon her arrival, raised his eyebrow in both amusement and questioning.

She broke the silence, "I got them."

Nodding silently, he decided, it was time, "There are some things that Tom wishes you to have, as the newly reigning Dark Lord."

A confused look fell across her face before it was replaced with seriousness and respect. She glanced towards the long ebony table in the center of the room and saw a silver case, twined with snakes all around it.

He followed her glance and confirmed, "Yes, in that case is what is intended for you."

Striding slowly toward the silver adorned box, she lifted the lid and a piece of parchment fluttered out onto the table.

Taking in a shuddering breath, she picked up the parchment, reading the neatly written words carefully. The words were written in a beautifully flowing cursive script and read at the top, _'To Hermione Granger.' _

'_Miss Granger, by the time you come upon and read this, you would have become the new dark ruler. I would have told you everything and transferred all my magical power to you. Do not question how or why I gave you the power, instead use it to your advantage, which, by this time, I assume you already have. Enclosed in this box is an ebony bladed dagger, I trust you will understand how to brandish it, and another wand, yes, I am aware that you already own one, but this wand is untraceable, it is powerful; it was mine, and now it is yours, but do keep in mind, your own wand and this one will both comply to your magic. In any case that a dark and most likely an illegal spell is needed to be cast, use this wand, this one cannot be tracked and is unregistered. That is all; here is the end of your following, and the beginning of your leadership. Always remember, Hermione, you were chosen because you are worthy, leave all doubt behind, but never forget what I have told you. I leave you here, bring the dark side the glory that I was unable to tear asunder the side of light that has reigned for too long, and do not make the same mistakes as I have in years past. Make history, Hermione Granger.'_

The letter immediately disappeared in a burst of emerald green smoke as soon as she finished reading the last sentence, the silver box disappearing along with it, and although the letter was not in her hands anymore, the words were forever burned into her mind.

One lone tear slid down her cheek, a crystalline droplet falling down to the floor.

Steeling herself, she picked up the dagger, heavy with a shiny black blade and handle, while silver snakes with emerald eyes twined around the handle.

The wand was long and black, thicker at the base and thinner near the tip, when she picked it up, she felt a powerful surge of magic run through her.

'_Oh yes. They will pay, every last one of them.'_ she thought, as a dark look came over her features and an evil, malicious smirk twisted her lips.


	11. Suspicions and Warnings

_Hey everyone! I just wanted to apologize for posting only once a week, but I'm swamped with projects! And I do realize that this chapter is quite short, but the next chapter, which I will post tomorrow, will be around 2,000 words, so I hope that makes up for it! Anyway, enjoy this new chapter and as always, leave me a review or message me with your thoughts! Thanks for reading!_  
_-Ari_

* * *

Snapping out of her thoughts, Hermione asked, "When can you get together all the death eaters?"

At her statement, Lucius ceased pacing and replied, "By next weekend at the latest."

Thinking pensively for a moment, Hermione looked up at him, "Alright, gather everyone on Halloween." she paused as a smirk lit up her face, "There's something that needs to be done, before we progress with the war effort."

She quickly checked her watch, "I better get going, it's already 2 in the morning."

Nodding his assent, Lucius gestured to her newly acquired wand, "I believe you would rather want to try appartaing on your own?"

She grinned, and with a _'crack!'_ she was gone.

Appearing in the entrance hall, Hermione kept her grin, apparation was so much better than going by floo, and now that she knew for sure that she could do it alone, it would be a lot less of a hassle.

Slowly, she kept to the shadows and crept along until she found the staircase to Gryffindor Tower and climbed the shadowed stairs.

When she finally made it into the red and gold adorned common room, she breathed out a sigh of relief and made her way into her dorm where she drew the curtains around her bed and promptly fell asleep with one thought before blackness took over her, _'Halloween is in two weeks…' _

The weeks went by slowly, almost at a snail's pace, to say the least, it was agonizing.

Finally, it was the day before Halloween. Hermione breathed in deeply, walking through the courtyard, the smell of fall was definitely present and lingering in the cool air.

She smiled to herself, fall was here, seasons were changing, and tomorrow night, progress would at last, be made.

The rest of the day went by in a fast blur until it was her free period. She walked into the quiet library and past the tall shelves filled with volumes and volumes of knowledge.

Trailing her fingers along the leather bound spines, and without turning around Hermione spoke, "If you're infatuated with me enough to spy on me in the _library_, then you might as well show yourself."

She turned around and saw Draco moving out of the shadows, stalking towards her. When he neared, he gripped her forearm and dragged her to the nearest empty classroom and locked the door.

He let go of her arm as soon as he was sure the door was secured.

Hermione merely raised an eyebrow and waited for him to speak.

She leaned against one of the desks near the front of the room, watching while he stared at her. Grey eyes locking into darker, almost charcoal grey eyes.

"What are you doing Granger?" he hissed.

Rolling her eyes, she responded, "You were the one who dragged me into a classroom while I was only looking at books, so you tell me."

In a flash, he was in front of her, and nearly growled, "Don't play with me. I know you snuck out multiple times all this month and last month."

Instead of fear, her expression was of amusement, she leaned forwards and whispered with a sneer, "What's it to you?"

Leaning back with a smirk, she brushed past him and headed for the door, intending to leave when she felt herself being whirled around.

Turning once again to face him, his eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You're up to something."

Deciding to see how this would play out, Hermione played along, "Isn't everyone?"

His grip on her shoulder didn't loosen; in fact, it was tighter than ever, "If you don't mind, I have homework to get to."

She tuned to leave, but heard his voice, "It's only a matter of time Granger." a threat, spoken so softly.

Hermione turned back to him, "Yeah? Maybe. But by that time, you would have come to your senses." she paused her cryptic response, then continued with a serious expression, "A war's coming Draco, make the right choice."

At her words, his face immediately went pale.

She took out her wand and with a flick, popped open the locking charm on the door and walked out.

Draco slumped against the doorframe, her words playing over and over in his mind, _'A war's coming Draco, make the right choice.' _

He had seen her expression, serious, but not angry or loathing, it was as if she was warning him.

Sighing, he stood up straight and decided to go home this Halloween weekend to ask his father.

'_Could it be possible… no.' _He shook his head, dismissing the thought, sure, she had changed, but he didn't think she could have changed _that_ drastically. And then there was that matter with her eyes, before, they had almost been black, but now, they were a darkened charcoal grey.

Once again shaking away his thoughts, he made his way out of the classroom into the dungeons, yes, his father would surely tell him…


	12. From Soldiers to Allies

_Hey everyone! I know that in the previous chapter I said that this chapter would be 2,000 words, but I didn't want to make you guys wait, so I published this instead, it may not be as many words, but I really do hope that you enjoy! I also wanted to thank those for the wonderful reviews, they are so nice and motivating! I am glad that so many of you are enjoying this and these chapters! I will eventually get up to 2,000 words soon, but for now, please enjoy and feel free to either message me with your thoughts or review! As always, thanks for reading!_

_-Ari_

* * *

There was a Halloween party at full swing in the dining hall of Hogwarts, one that she helped develop through subtle hints and ideas. If Dumbledore had not allowed such a party, then the chances of her sneaking away unnoticed for the rest of the night would have been slim to none.

Looking back at the castle alight with the Halloween festivities, she let a smirk flash across her lips. As soon as she passed the non apparation wards, she glanced around, then with a _'crack!'_ found herself standing in front of Malfoy Manor's black wrought iron gates and Lucius standing behind them, impending her arrival.

As he quickly opened the gates, she stepped through and walked beside him up the winding stone pathway that led to the imposing manor.

He was dressed in fine silk black robes, expensive as always, while she wore a black silk shirt, black jeans tucked into her heeled combat boots, and a black velvet cape that fluttered behind her with every step, giving her a dark, regal air.

Once they reached the door, it opened as if on cue, the same house elf from last time and three others greeted her warmly. She smiled as she passed them, noticing that they weren't scared or crowding in fear from Lucius, confirming that he really had gotten their loyalty.

Impressed, she waited until they were out of earshot, "Well, it looks like last time wasn't just a fluke." she mused.

Confused, Lucius frowned, and seeing his expression, she explained, "I had doubts of how the house elves would so willingly become loyal after all that they had been through, but now I have no doubts," she paused, "good work."

She saw him smile and then it was replaced by a serious look, "Everyone is gathered in the meeting room."

Hermione nodded and followed him to the dark double doors and waited.

Lucius pulled out his mask and put in on, obscuring his face, placed both his hands flat, one on each of the double doors, and with one push, they flew open.

Taking that as her cue, Hermione flipped the velvet black hood over her head.

As they walked in, her following Lucius, she felt rather than saw all the death eaters' stares, curious as to who was behind Lucius. They were standing along both sides, creating an aisle.

She didn't look at anyone; instead she just stared straight forward and walked, until Lucius reached his position, and stepped into it.

Hermione continued walking down the long aisle of the meeting room, her heeled boots clicking against the dark grey slate. She approached the very end, where there wasn't a throne like she had imagined, but instead it was more of a stone platform, with three wide steps leading up to it.

She continued, and walked up the steps, taking a deep breath before she slid her hood down, turned around, and faced the room.

For a moment, all she did was look around, and from her standpoint on the platform, it finally occurred to her that the entire meeting room was constructed of stone. She noticed that when she first turned around, all the death eaters turned to Lucius as if looking for an answer as to who she was and what she was doing, standing in the place of their lord, but he just kept his eyes clear of any emotion.

Their masked faces were directed to where she stood. _'Masked'_, she thought, as words immediately echoed in her mind.

'_Do not make the same mistakes as I have in years past.' _

Deciding that it was time, she addressed the room, "Take off your masks."

When no one moved to do so, Lucius took the lead and slipped off his mask, and soon, one by one, everyone else followed.

Hermione looked; they weren't faceless soldiers anymore, and would never be again.

She looked around at them, catching all their gazes, and spoke again, in a neutral tone, "You're all probably wondering who I am, why I'm standing in your lord's place, and well, why you're here."

Seeing their nods of confirmation, she continued, "I am Hermione Granger." she stopped and held up her hand as they started to protest, obviously having heard her name before.

"Your lord has passed, and chosen me as his successor."

Proving her words, she slid the ebony wand out of her sleeve and into her hand, waving it in front of her face. Suddenly, her eyes were a deep, burning crimson color.

The death eaters froze, they knew that even if she was lying, there was no way she could fake the eye color.

"And lastly, you're all here because a new initiation has to be done tonight, on Samhain."

With a softer tone, she looked at the questioning eyes, "Your previous lord knew he made mistakes, but he realized too late." Hermione paused, sweeping her eyes through the room, "I won't make the same mistakes as he did. I promise."

"Doubt me if you will, but my goal is not to have an army of mindless, expendable soldiers, instead, it is to have an army of strong leaders who will finally have rewards for their hard work."

She took a breath, "I know that your previous lord exploited your weaknesses, humiliated the lot of you with them until you quivered in fear at the very thought of him, but I will never be like that, as I am not calling you my soldiers, but I am calling you, asking you, to be my allies."

Taking another breath, she pushed on with a determined tone, "If you accept, drop your masks, drop your fear of weakness, and join me."

They looked at one another, apprehensive, and then, dropped their masks to the floor simultaneously.

Some breathed sighs of relief, others remained stoic.

Hermione smiled, "Thank you." she whispered to them.

She looked at Lucius and saw a genuine smile stretch across his lips and grinned in response.

As she scanned the room with the grin still firmly in place, it was like it was contagious; it spread until everyone was grinning, their faces brightening with new hope of what was to come for the future.

This was it, and Hermione felt more at home than ever before, she had found family aside from just her parents.

She was definitely, definitely not making the same mistake, her allies' genuine grins were confirmation of that enough.


	13. Initiation

_Hey everyone! I hope you all are doing well! Please feel free to leave a review, or message me of your thoughts! And a big thank you to everyone who has either read, favorited, reviewed, or followed! It's all of you that give me motivation! Enjoy!_

_-Ari_

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Basking in the moment of success, Hermione didn't notice Lucius coming to stand beside her until he spoke.

"We better get moving with the initiation, otherwise you won't make it back to Hogwarts early enough to not raise suspicion."

Hearing his words so close next to her, she jumped a bit before nodding in agreement.

Still with a small smile on her lips, she spoke, her words ringing loud and clear through the stone room.

"Thank you, but before we can proceed, I must conduct a new initiation. This one will allow you to keep your marks," she paused for the applause that followed, "and nothing will be different, only in this initiation, there will be a new unbreakable vow, one that is truly unbreakable."

At the end of her statement, she slid the black wand from her sleeve, and instructed, "Make a circle."

Once everyone took their place in a circle with an empty space for her, she stepped into the open spot and placed her wand on the floor in the center, "Join hands."

She linked her left hand with Bellatrix and her right with Lucius.

Softly, she began to chant, in a language that no one understood; as she chanted, the wand in the center of the circle glowed an eerie green light and soon enveloped the circle of people, entwining strands of emerald green light around the joined hands of each member of the circled group.

She continued to chant softly and suddenly, the green light exploded into what looked like black flames around them, strands pulling out and joining the green light that entwined around their joined hands, then fell back to the wand in one sudden motion.

Breathing out, she unlinked her hands and took the wand back from the floor. Before she even stood back up, her head snapped towards the large oak double doors and from her crouched position on the floor, she passed her wand over her face, swiping her grey contacts back in and flicked her wand at the doors.

They flew open to reveal Draco, standing there with shock and something unreadable in his expression.

"Why hello Draco." she said with a devious smirk.

Acknowledging that his son was spying on them, Lucius strode briskly towards the doors where he stood, but before he passed Hermione, she raised her hand to stop him.

Without taking her eyes off of Draco, she explained her actions, "I was actually quite hoping that he would show up, to our," she paused and gave a malevolent smile, "ah, meeting." she finished.

More surprised than ever, Draco gave little time to compose himself before he ground out in a hiss, "What are you of all people doing here? And in my home, of all places?"

Taking deliberate and slow steps forward until she was directly in front of him, she whispered back, "Can't you tell?"

Seeing him take in the scene and the look of defiance, she rolled her eyes and passed her wand over her face again.

He stumbled back a few steps and his defiant expression changed to a strange mixture of curiosity and awe.

"What-" he breathed out, "how-?

Taking more steps forward as he backed up, Hermione soon had him cornered, with the death eaters in the background, quietly observing.

Still speaking in a whispered tone, she spoke softly, "You know those few nights that I snuck out?" he nodded, "Well, I was meeting with your father, then the Dark Lord as he was dying, and then now…"

Letting her words hang, she backed away a few steps, "The eye color happened after he transferred all his power to me."

Slowly processing the information, Draco looked around the room and realized that everyone else in the room was watching, and whispered almost as if to himself, "That was the initiation, they all took another unbreakable vow…" and trailed off.

Hermione checked her watch, and turned to the room, addressing everyone, "All right everyone, the vows are done, the initiation is complete, it's already late, you may all leave, thank you."

Everyone left either by apparation or floo and in a matter of a few minutes, she was left standing in front of Draco and Lucius.

"And I have better leave as well, before morning, otherwise suspicions will arise."

She nodded to Lucius and said, "Make sure you fill Draco in."

He gave a nod back in response and with a _crack_, apparated just outside where the anti-apparition wards of Hogwarts ended.

She breathed in the cold night air and walked slowly back up to the castle.

Once inside, she kept to the shadows and crept to her dorm room, where soft and even breathing could be heard. She found her bed in the darkness and crawled into it, then drew the curtains shut, warding around her bed.

Exhausted, she took off her black velvet cloak and laid it at the foot of her bed, shifted her pillows and snuggled down into her sheets, immediately falling asleep and awaiting the day tomorrow, hoping there would be clouds and thunder.

Unbeknown to her, the dark clouds moved in, further blackening the sky already absent of moonlight.


	14. Storms and Choices

_AN: Hey everyone! I know this might be a bit confusing, but I had decided that when I orginally uploaded Chp. 14, it was too short so I added a whole lot to it! I am so sorry for taking so long to update! School's been crazy! Please review and tell me your thoughts! They are the best for motivation! Enjoy!_

_-Ari _

* * *

Jerking awake to a loud crack of thunder followed by a vivid blue flash of lightening, Hermione thought nothing of it, thinking that it was just a coincidence and laid back down onto the comforting pillows.

She sighed and thought about last night, and sighed again, now she just had to see how everything played out and plan accordingly. Another boom of lightning snapped her out of her thoughts and she pulled back the curtains surrounding her bed.

Meanwhile, in the boys dorms, Harry bolted straight up as another boom of thunder seemed to shake the very foundations of the castle. A flash of lightning illuminated the sleeping forms of his dorm mates.

After a few moments of sitting up in bed breathing hard, he felt a cold shiver run through him and laid back down.

He took a shuddering breath, trying to calm his racing heartbeat and rapid breathing.

Once his breath was nearing normalcy, he relaxed and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't as if he was afraid of thunder and lightning, but it felt like something was released, something that resembled a burning of his scar except without the pain, or when Voldemort's images of terror were sent across to him.

Harry glanced at the window and saw another bolt of lightning light up the darkened sky followed by rolling thunder and sighed, the cold feeling inside him had passed and he thought nothing of it, thinking it was an attribute of an oncoming cold.

By the time Hermione finished getting ready, all the girls in her dorm had woken and mildly surprised at the weather outside.

She gave herself a smirk when she saw some of their scared expressions.

'_Cowards,'_ she thought as the rain continued to pour and a bright streak of lightning flashed.

Shaking her head discreetly, she shouldered her bag and made her way down the stairs to the common room. She stepped out through the portrait hole and walked down the torch lined steps towards the dining hall.

Sitting down in her place, she sat there patiently and waited. Soon enough, as all the students were in the dining hall, Dumbledore stepped up and took his place at the podium on the platform and amplified his voice.

"Attention students," he began, looking around at the tables, "all classes involving outdoor activity will be canceled for today." he paused again, "That is all."

Silence stretched, as it always did anytime announcements were made, and then first loud whispers broke out, slowly rising in volume.

Dumbledore took his spot back at the staff table as the students regained their usual breakfast time chatter.

Hermione took a glance outside at the tall windows adorned with heavy drapes and saw the sky light up among ominous clouds with a bright white flash of lightning followed by a loud crack of thunder that made the students jump in surprise and some in fear.

She raised her eyebrows and turned back around in her seat, looking across the dining hall to the table next to hers, the Slytherin table.

Her eyes locked with Draco's, and he gave an almost indecipherable nod in her direction. She nodded back in acknowledgement and he tilted his head towards the door following out of the entrance hall. Her brows furrowed, then it was immediately replaced by a calm mask of indifference when she noticed that Harry was looking intently at her with a strange expression that she just couldn't place. She gave a what she hope was a warm smile to him and he turned back to his conversation with Ron.

With his attention off of her, she looked across to Draco, and nodded curtly once.

She broke eye contact and stared at her breakfast, then pushed it away and stood up, shouldering her bag.

"Hey, guys, I'm going to the library; I'll see you in class." with that statement, she turned and headed out of the dining hall.

As she entered the library, she noticed that it was practically empty, smirking to herself, she walked to a darkened corner and waited.

A few moments later, Draco walked in and scanned the room, surprisingly locating her among the darkened shadows. He kept a blank mask on his face and stalked gracefully towards her.

Hermione tilted her head slightly, and upon reaching her, his façade came off entirely, bowing his head in respect.

"Draco," she whispered softly. He looked up.

"I suppose Lucius filled you in?"

At his nod, she prompted, "And?"

He took a breath, "And… I-"

Seeing his hesitation, she cut in, "And I have decided to let you choose." she gave him small smile as he looked at her with surprise.

"I am giving you a choice, because I'm hoping that you will make the right choice." she stared hard into his storm grey eyes with her own charcoal ones, "I will not force you, loyalty is something that should be genuine, willing, not forced and forged." she turned to leave and as she brushed past him, she whispered, "But let me tell you this, Draco, a war is coming, make the right choice and make it soon, you do not want to stand against us."

Hermione was almost halfway across the library heading to the doors when he glanced around to make sure no one was around and spoke with a smirk, "Hey, Granger, when's the first meeting?"

She turned back around and took a long look at him, then let out a breath, her lips pulling up on one side into a smirk that mirrored his own, "I'll send you the details…" she smiled, then whirled around, her black silk cloak billowing around her as she exited.

Walking into the hallway with her heels clicking on the stone floor, Hermione briskly made her way to Potions.

Taking a seat that was close to the front of the room, she waited for Snape to walk in and tell them their lesson for the day.

She took out a quill along with a piece of parchment, and began writing. Carefully blowing on the ink to ensure that it was dried, she signed her name at the bottom and tied it with a green ribbon. She carefully tucked it into a pocket of her bag, setting it back onto the ground just as the classroom door slammed shut as thunderous as the roll of thunder that accompanied Snape's entrance.

He scanned the room with piercing eyes, and finally, his gaze landed on her. They seemed to engage in a staring contest of what felt like hours until she narrowed her eyes and smirked deviously.

He looked away glanced in the direction of two still empty seats next to her, the slightest hint of the cruelest smirks on his lips.

She grinned inwardly.

'_Oh this is going to be so much fun…' _

The entire class was looking between her and the feared Potions professor, when suddenly, the door once again slammed open.

Everyone's eyes turned towards Harry and Ron, who had burst in, panting and out of breath.

"Potter! Weasley!"

"Sorry- we had to talk to Dumbledore, sir." Harry gasped out.

Snape just narrowed his eyes at the pair, "I see… do take your seats."

Everyone stood dumbfounded as he turned to the board and began writing out the day's lesson.

Snapping out of their haze, Harry and Ron scrambled to their seats beside Hermione.

They were still trying to figure out why Snape had let them off the hook for being late, brows furrowed and confused gestures. Harry tried to get her attention, but she continued to stare straight forward, trying to keep a straight face.

He stopped his movements abruptly as Snape whirled around, speaking to the class, "Today, we will be constructing a rather," he paused for a moment and looked directly at her, "dangerous potion." her lips curled into a miniscule, amused smirk, which she quickly wiped off of her face as everyone in the class glanced in her direction.

"All instructions and ingredients are on the board; this is due at the end of class, from every _individual_ student. You may collect your ingredients and begin now."

The students moved quickly to the cabinet that held the supplies and Hermione rose from her seat, following suit.

As she approached where Snape was leaning against his polished, black, oak desk with his arms crossed, she edged closer and closer, until she was almost directly in front of him.

She took a quick glance around to make sure everything was clear, held open her hand beside her side discreetly as she passed him, taking small steps and looking around the students in front of her.

Feeling two objects being pressed into her palm, she closed her hand slightly and arrived as the last one to the cabinet, gathering her own ingredients.

She walked quickly back to her desk and placed the materials beside her cauldron.

Methodically dropping in all the ingredients and stirring to perfection, she looked at the board to make sure everything was in order and peered at the two cauldrons next to hers and the ingredients lying around them.

"Harry, Ron, did you guys remember to get phials for your potions?"

Hearing their groans and shuffling of feet as they went to retrieve a glass phial, Hermione picked up the two extra ingredients Snape had given her and hurriedly dropped them into both Harry's and Ron's seemingly perfect potions.

'_Not for long,'_ she snickered to herself.

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_A note to LunaBee13: Hello! I am so happy that you are enjoying my story! I love that you review regularly and I appologize for keeping you waiting so long, but like I said in my author's note, I have lengthened this chapter a good bit, so I really hope you enjoy! Feel free to message me if you would like! Thanks for reading and reviewing! _

_-Ari_


	15. Information

She took a quick glance around the grey slated classroom to ensure no one had seen her actions.

Staring hard into her potion and pretending to concentrate, she saw with her peripheral vision Harry and Ron returning with their glass phials.

As soon as they put in a long metal spoon into their cauldrons to draw out a sample of their potions, the liquid started bubbling dangerously, then a loud _boom!_ followed by a thick cloud of smoke filled the air around their work station.

Snape's head snapped up sharply, and he yelled, "Potter! Weasley! Detention for a month!"

The Gryffindors gasped and gave sympathetic looks while the Slytherins sniggered.

Though, any sympathy gained for them was soon turned into anger when Snape continued with a nasty smirk, "And, 150 points from Gryffindor."

The Slytherins burst with barely concealed laughter and the Gryffindors gave angry glares to the pair.

Hermione tilted her head downwards and forced herself to stifle her laughter.

Luckily, class was dismissed only a few minutes later.

As she walked up to Snape's desk to drop off her sample of the potion, she inclined her head in thanks, and received a nod back from him in response.

She walked briskly towards the library for her long awaited free period. Walking in, she headed to her usual corner, surprised to see Kim waiting for her. A smile lit her face when she saw Hermione.

"Hello Kim!" Hermione waved.

"Hermione! It's great to see you!" The brunet waved back.

She led Kim to a small table in the darkened corner, and once they were seated, she looked around then leaned forward.

"What've you got?"

Leaning forward as well, Kim replied, "They're all very promising, most will easily join, they like the idea already, and there are maybe a few who either need to be convinced or possibly deflect to the wrong side."

Contemplating for a moment, she whispered, "Who are the unsure ones?"

"Well," Kim paused, then continued in an even lower voice, "not sure if you've heard, but it seems like Pansy's wanting to do something, there's this small group always following her around…"

Taking in a breath and then exhaling slowly, Hermione turned the thought over in her mind before responding, "Ah, I see." She propped her elbows on the table and leaning back slightly, she steeped her fingers together.

"Well, then I will have a talk with her…" She trailed off with a sinister smile, and given Kim's confused look, she explained, "just a little something to show her that she is about to make a big mistake."

Looking at the time, she quickly stood, and said with a light smile, "This period is almost over, thank you, Kim."

The brunet smiled back warmly, "Of course, see you soon."

Having got the information and assistance she needed, Hermione walked out of the library and into Gryffindor tower, going straight to her dorm room.

Once she got to her dorm, she checked outside the window and saw that nightfall was rapidly approaching along with the much cooler air.

Glancing around, she was assured that she was alone in the dorm. She strode towards her trunk and lifted the heavy lid, pulling out a sheath and a holster.

One for the knife.

One for the gun.

She placed the sharp ebony bladed knife into the sheath and secured it around her calf, close to her ankle and the knife, then the heavier and larger gun, which she secured to her thigh, right below her left hand.

Making sure her black silky cloak surrounded her, she took a final look in the mirror, tight, black, formfitting, yet flexible jeans, cobalt blue button down shirt, and the heavy black cloak that hid away the weapons.

Smiling at herself, she whirled around and walked slowly toward the common room, making sure that everyone was at dinner.

Assured that the room was clear of people, she moved toward the portrait hole and stepped out, keeping among the darkened shadows as she descended the stairs to the large double doors.

Glad that the flooring was covered in carpet, allowing her to nearly sprint without making a sound in her boots, she ran toward the door and held out her wand in front of her, pointing toward the door and making it open just a crack, silently.

Slipping out, the doors promptly shut behind her, without so much as a trace of someone having left.

She smiled, learning the new spells were paying off.

Slowing down she walked to the large stone boulders where she would be meeting Lucius.

As she walked the chilled air wrapped and swirled around her, blowing her silky darkened hair around her head. She secured the silver clasp on her cloak and continued the walk until she reached the boulders.

Upon approaching, she noted that Lucius was already there waiting her arrival.

Smiling, she spoke, "Good evening, Lucius. It's nice to see you again."

"Ah, yes Miss Granger, likewise." He replied, smiling back.

He held out his arm draped in heavy velvet and she accepted it, apparting them both to the front doors of the manor in a flash.

The large black doors opened and they were once again greeted by a house elf.

Hermione smiled at the creature and walked into the slightly warm but still chilled manor.

The shiny doors of the meeting room were already pulled open and as she walked towards it, she saw that it was already filled with people.

Taking a deep breath, she walked down the center and looked straight ahead, her head high and shoulders back, until she reached the stone steps that lead up to the stone platform.

Flashbacks of the same scene played in her mind and she smirked, remembering how well everything had gone last time.

Her confidence building, she walked up the steps and turned to face the room as Lucius took his place on her right.

"Good evening." She called out, everyone's attention snapping instantly to her.

They bowed their heads in respect, then looked up at her again, waiting for her to continue.

She looked around at everyone in the room, and was about to speak when the floo burst with green flames, signaling that another person had arrived to their gatherin, or rather, _two_ other people.

* * *

_Author's Note: Hi everyone! I am so so so sorry for not updating in such a long time! School has been very demanding, and I have been trying to balance all of that along with recording songs, which takes so much of my time as well. I hope this gives you all an explanation as to why I haven't updated in so long! I will definitely have a new chapter up by next week! Thanks to all who have favorited, followed, and reviewed! It means so much to me to see those reviews, they motivate me greatly! Please enjoy this new chapter, and once again, my most sincere apologies! Leave me a review if you would like! Thank you all so much!_

_-Ari_


	16. Meeting

With a small smile, Hermione directed her attention as well over to the fireplace where two people stepped out into the room.

Raising his head and matching her smile, Severus dusted himself off and waited until Draco had done the same before proceeding towards the gathering of death eaters. Draco's mask of indifference was locked into place as he took his place next to his father, and Severus on Hermione's left.

"Now, that everyone is here, I would like to address a few concerns," Hermione paused and looked around the room, at all the people that now supported her, "first and foremost, we are going into battle."

She paused once again and took a deep breath, "It is inevitable, I, unlike your previous lord, do not want to engage in battle to settle matters, but it must be done." Her voice rang out as she spoke with confidence, "Secondly, we will not go into this war blind. I will not use all of you like disposable pawns. I say this because you are not nameless, disposable, worthless soldiers. You are my allies, my friends, and most importantly, you are all my family."

The room was incased in complete silence as her words sunk in, then the silence was cut by clapping and cheers. Hermione looked to Lucius, who gave her a proud smile, she smiled back and turned to the death eaters, all out grinning as the moral was boosted.

She raised a hand and the crowd quieted, but most kept their smiles as they awaited her next words, "One last thing before we leave, winter break is almost upon us, only one week away. In those three weeks, we will train. We will be prepared for this war. And we will win." She raised her voice on the final sentence, gaining more cheers from the crowd and even more grins.

She spoke once the cheers quieted down, "All right everyone, that's all. Go home, get some rest, and I'll see you again in a few weeks." She turned slightly to talk to Lucius, but then turned back, "And, thank you, all of you."

Turning back to Lucius, she gave him a nod, then caught Draco's eye and did the same. Popping sounds bounced off of the stone walls as all the death eaters left, including Severus.

Hermione blew out a puff of air and closed her eyes.

"Lucius, if you could please apparate me back to Hogwarts now, that would be greatly appreciated. And Draco, thank you for attending the meeting," she paused, and looked at her once rival, nemesis, and enemy, "I'll see you tomorrow, we should all get some rest, it's been a long and tiring day." With that, Lucius held out his arm and with one last smile at Draco, she slid her arm through Lucius' and with a '_pop'_, they were gone.

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_AN: My most sincere of apologies to all of you, my readers, who have supported me and left wonderous and encourage comments for the long awaited update. And thank you to Eliza for giving me the push to update, I have since made room in my schedule to write for all of you who enjoy this story. Once again, my most sincere of apologies to everyone for the long wait, as well as this short chapter, I want to see where I stand, as well as all of you, so please leave a review or private message me. The next chapter will definitely be much longer. Thank you all for your time. _

_-Ari_


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